


Fishing

by MeeemWho



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fishing, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-26 18:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19773667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeeemWho/pseuds/MeeemWho
Summary: In which Byleth fishes.





	1. The Lake

Fishing.

It's all in the patience. No matter how great the lure, or tempting the bait, no man would ever catch a prize without patience.

The water was still. The only sounds were cicadas and the occasional bark of a dog. The sun was low and threatening to set behind the towers of the monastery. 

Byleth felt a nudge on her line. She braced, but the interloper passed on into the murky darkness below.

The tension between the professor's eyes and the bob of a float could be cut with a knife. Every moment, even her blinks, carefully calculated and aware.

She moved, faintly, only to flash the lure in the fading daylight. A spark of silver, almost lost in the mud.

Any moment the tension could break, a battle was waiting below the mirror of water.

Byleth let a drop of sweat trickle down from her brow, it dropped into the lake below.

Fishing.

\---

"How long has she been there?" Ingrid whispered, taking the piece of jerky offered to her.

"Almost three hours now." Dimitri replied, shifting his stance slightly in the tree. Sylvain wiggled his legs around, nudging Felix to scoot over to let Ingrid take a seat. It was Sylvain's idea to watch Byleth's strange ritual, hidden in the boughs of a grand oak.

"It's incredible, really." Felix whispered. "I don't think she's blinked in ten minutes."

Ingrid nodded and watched, enraptured. 

Their fun was only interrupted when Byleth actually had something on her line. She jumped up so suddenly that Dimitri fell out of the tree entirely.

Byleth was truly an eccentric professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen i really like the idea of byleth being way too into fishing


	2. The Lure

"You want me to… swim down there?" Edelgard pointed at the murky depths below the shoreline. Frogs and turtles barely visible in the grass.

Byleth nodded. "You're going to be looking for a four inch ivory minnow with yellow eyes. It might be easier to find the line, but please be careful not to get caught in the hooks."

Edelgard shuddered. When Byleth asked her class for a volunteer for extra credit, Edelgard practically jumped at the offer, despite the unusual request. ('Be sure to wear something besides your uniform. Something you don't mind ruining.') She imagined a trip to the stable, or cleaning an abandoned room, maybe even polishing the weapon rack.

But then Byleth took her out to the lake, crossed her arms, and waited.

Edelgard toed off her boots.

An extra ten points is an extra ten points.

\---

Perversa.

Not a single lure could match her. Carved out of light bone and formed to a delicate shape by years or trial and error.

No bass could resist the way she moved, darting back and forth at the slightest of pulls. She had her own special spot within Byleth's horde. Tucked away in a scrap of linen and carefully polished once a month.

When she got caught on a piece of wood, she was devastated.

It was like losing a lover.

And then Edelgard was there to help. Like an angel picking a child up from the slums, she surfaced the water with that delicate ivory beauty clasped between her fingers. Byleth could have cried, were she made with a lesser will.

She was polished, her hooks straightened. A quick test in the fountain assured Byleth that there was nothing to fear.

And then, she was tucked back into her nook. Safe with the rest of her family now.

Lovely Perversa.

\---

It was just supposed to be a regular patrol, they said.

'Don't expect anything strange. It's very dull.' They said.

'Hello Catherine.' Byleth said, standing on the 3nd tier of a fountain at two in the morning.

Catherine needed a raise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Borboleta Pervesa is one of the most popular and productive Peacock Bass Lures in Brazil, also effective in saltwater.


	3. The Flies

Current.

It wove around her, creating pockets of rough and calm water.

There, just across the deepest edge, a slight ridge in the waves. The only indication from the surface that there was a stone taking the brunt of force. Protecting delicate fins behind it.

Her fingers tightened around her line. One, two swoops and then she released, sending the yellow cord arcing over clear waters. A fly, hardly larger than her thumb, delicately landed on the surface. There wasn't a single splash of water.

She had spent hours working on these flies. Bent over her desk at the wee hours between classes working thread round and around tiny hooks. She had dozens of flies of all different sizes. Some small and dark brown for the surface, some yellow and vibrant for the water, and even a few with elk hair to provide texture. Replications of nymphs, worms, bees, anything to ensure the perfect catch.

All delicate things. All beautiful things. All temporary things.

Her labor of love flourished as she felt the familiar tug between her fingers. Within moments, she spotted the familiar markings of a trout.

Too small, she noted. She gave it mercy, letting it escape back into its home current.

One, two, and another release of line into the soft flow.

Current.

\---

"How on earth does she plan to catch anything with something the size of my pinkie finger." Claude mused, tossing a stone between his hands.

Leonie shrugged, tapping her toes together from where they rested in the stream.

Another battle, another victory. They celebrated, but Byleth looked antsy the entire time. One question from Claude had her admitting she wanted to visit the nearby river and, regrettably, he encouraged her to.

He didn't expect her to produce and entire rod and several lures of different textures and colors. Rows of tiny feathered hooks nestled in what first seemed to be a journal.

Time and time again she caught something and then let it go without taking a second look. Claude felt his stomach rumble. Professor Byleth could at least offer them dinner or something for their time.

He could wait. Some of his classmates were playing cards in the grass behind him. He turned to join them, enjoying the warm afternoon outdoors.

\---

The ten huge trout Byleth caught more than fed all of the Golden Deer that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't look up tutorials on how to make fly lures on youtube you WILL be entranced and you WILL watch them for 2 hours instead of sleeping


	4. The Pole

Betrayal.

A slap in the face from someone she thought she could trust.

He had no right to be acting like that. One bend too many was apparently all he needed to start snapping lines left and right.

Like a coward, he shied from the fight. Byleth would have had the catch of her life, had it not been for him breaking under the pressure. Everything was perfectly running, and then he ruined it. 

A snap. A splash. An escape.

Byleth was patient, but this was too much, even for her. He had to be punished. He had to be shown what happened when he broke under pressure.

Betrayal.

\---

Nobody had the guts to ask why, exactly, Professor Byleth had a broken fishing pole on the floor in front of her desk during lecture.

They all had their ideas. Maybe someone lost it and Byleth wasn't sure who it belonged to for once. Maybe it was a gift and she didn't want to have the person think she didn't appreciate it. Perhaps she was simply waiting for someone to ask so she could go on a spheal about weapon durability or something.

Dimitri hovered at the door, looking into the window to see if Byleth was available for tutoring.

He saw her cradling the pile of black wood, holding it in her arms like a child. She was rocking it back and forth too. Another second and she was saying something to it.

Was that a tear running down her cheek?

Dimitri backed away. Very slowly.

She was busy. He'd come back later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the FISHING POLE has been tossed away.
> 
> Byleth has the FISHING POLE right now.


	5. The Sea

Floating.

The small wooden craft that gently turned and shifted in the gentle waves.

Salt filled the air and water below in equal parts, leaving a bitterness on your tongue. Not unpleasant, but unusual. 

It was one of those rare moments where sitting was possible. Patience and persistence the biggest keys in profiting off of the rich diversity within the sea. Legs kicked over a seat and closed eyes under a wide hat.

_'Byleth. You know I can hear this right?'_

The caw of seagulls above. Monotonous yet piercing. 

_'Byleth please. I didn't get to choose to live in your mind.'_

The splash of a distant shoreline. Stones wet and worn with time.

_'Byleth I just want to have a vacation.'_

The brightness of the sun making the entire sea sparkle.

_'BYLETH STOP WAXING POETIC ABOUT SLIMY FISH. YOU DO THIS ALL THE TIME.'_

It was like being home.

_'BYLETH.'_

Floating.  
\---

"Do you think we should tell teach she's floating out with the rip tide?" Hubert asked, putting a seashell on top of the sandcastle he had made.

Edegard looked out to the sea, a breeze ruffled her hair. Her face wrought with seriousness, despite the fact that she was holding a bucket of sand.

"No. That's where she wants to be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternative title: The Sothis wants to enjoy spring break


End file.
